Setting Up the Approval Unit Hierarchy

When you create an Approval Unit Hierarchy, you can select an approval template:

• Consolidation—used for locking and unlocking only. When an application is created, the system automatically creates an Approval Unit Hierarchy named Total Geography. This Approval Unit Hierarchy contains all entities under the Total Geography hierarchy. The approval template assigned to this Approval Unit Hierarchy is Consolidation

• Consolidation - Bottom Up —Used for the approval process.

• Consolidation – Separate Approve and Lock—Allows the approval and lock processes to be performed by different users. You can assign one group of users to approve the entity, and another group of users to lock the entity.

To set up an approval unit hierarchy:

1. Click the Navigator icon .
2. Under Workflow, click Approval Unit.
3. To create a new hierarchy, click Create, or to edit an existing hierarchy, select a hierarchy and click Edit.
4. Select Approvals Dimension.
5. In Hierarchy Name, specify the approval unit hierarchy name.
6. Optional: Specify a description.
7. For Enable Approvals, select an option:

   • All—Adds all approval units to the approval process

   • Custom—Adds fields which enable you to add individual approval units and approval units based on Parent member and generation criteria.

   • None—This will not automatically include any entities as approval units. You can manually select the entities to be included in the hierarchy.

8. From Approvals Template, select a template.
9. For Cube, leave the default setting of Consol .
10. For Extended Approval Flow, select an option:

    • None—The approval workflow will use the Entity dimension only, and not use a secondary dimension or approval groups. You'll make your Entity member selections on the Select Primary Members tab.

    • Secondary—The approval workflow will use a secondary dimension. You'll make your member selections on the Primary and Subhierarchy Selection tab.

    • Approval Group—Enables you to assign approval groups to the approvals workflow. You can create approval groups or select existing approval groups on the Assign Approval Groups tab. See Managing Approval Phases. This option is only available if the Consolidation - Bottom Up template is selected.

11. Optional: Select Extended Approval Flow Apply at All Levels—(This option is only available if the Secondary or Approval Group options are selected.) Applies the Extended Approval Flow option to all levels in the approval unit hierarchy.
12. Optional: Select Phase Dependency—(This option is only available if the Secondary or Approval Group options are selected.) Requires the approval workflow to be submitted in phases based on the order of entries you defined.

    For example, the first entry in the list must be promoted before the second entry. Note that both entries can be at the same level, but the second entry cannot be promoted before the first entry. Hence the order of the entries is important. You can rearrange the order using the up and down arrows.

13. Take an action:

    • If you selected None for Extended Approval Flow, make your approval unit hierarchy member selections on the Select Primary Members tab. Click Next or select the Select Primary Members tab.

    • If you selected Secondary for Extended Approval Flow, you'll select the approval unit hierarchy members on the Primary and Subhierarchy Selection tab. Click Next or select the Primary and Subhierarchy Selection tab.

    • If you selected Approval Group for Extended Approval Flow, you'll select the approval unit hierarchy approval groups and members on the Assign Approval Groups and Select Primary Members tabs. Click Next or select the Assign Approval Groups tab.

    • Click Save and then OK to save changes and close the approval unit hierarchy.